Mastodon is a free and open-source decentralized social media platform for microblogging, built on the open ActivityPub protocol. Users can follow anyone across any Mastodon server from a single account and receive posts in chronological order, without algorithms or ads. Each server sets and enforces its own rules, and Mastodon can be self-hosted on a user's own infrastructure or joined via an existing server such as mastodon.social. It supports text posts with audio, video, picture, poll, and other media attachments.
What it's for
Microblogging and publishing short text updatesSharing art, music, or podcastsBuilding and moderating independent online communitiesSelf-hosting a personal or organizational social media serverFollowing and communicating with users across different servers and fediverse apps
Features 15
- Accessibility descriptions for media
- Animated avatars
- Audio, video, and picture posts
- Chronological home timeline with no algorithmic curation
- Content warnings
- Custom emojis
- Directory of servers to browse and join
- Follow users across any Mastodon server from a single account
- Interoperability via the ActivityPub open protocol
- Interoperates with other fediverse platforms
- No advertisements
- Polls
- Self-hosting on own infrastructure
- Server-level moderation and custom rules
- Thumbnail crop control
At a glance
free tieropen sourceself-hostable
TypeWeb app
DeploymentHybrid
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android
LanguagesArabic, Belarusian, Catalan, Czech, Welsh, Danish, German, Greek, English, Esperanto, Spanish (Argentina), Spanish, Basque, Persian, Finnish, Filipino, French, Frisian, Scottish Gaelic, Galician, Hindi, Hungarian, Interlingua, Indonesian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Kurmanji, Lithuanian, Dutch, Norwegian, Occitan, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Sinhala, Slovenian, Albanian, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Chinese (Traditional)
Forinstitutions
CompanyMastodon GmbH · 2021
Integrations
PixelfedPeerTubeMisskeyPleromaPlume
Complianceself-reported
EU Digital Services Act
Resources
Pricing
Mastodon is free and open-source software developed by a non-profit, sustained through donations rather than paid plans.
Similar apps
MixpostOpen sourceOpen source social media management you ownPriceNot statedTry freeFree planRuns onWebFeatures20
OpenPostOpen sourceThe all-in-one content team for solo foundersPrice$29–$99/moTry free14-day trialRuns onWeb · Android +1Features17
MovimOpen sourceYour Network, Your Rules.PriceFreeTry freeFree planRuns onWebFeatures22
StoatOpen sourceFind your communityPriceFreeTry freeFree planRuns onWeb · Windows +4Features17
ColibriOpen sourceChats where you truly own your data.Price$5–$25/moTry free—Runs onWebFeatures14
FlotillaSelf-hostableRun your community, not the other way around.PriceFrom $5/moTry freeFree planRuns onWeb · iOS +1Features20